Guilt of the Innocent
by The Mind Of The Dragon
Summary: More often than not, the innocent experience guilt over things that they should not. Kakashi knows that Tenzo feels guilty that he survived Orochimaru's experiments when so many died, and all he can do is be there for him when he breaks.


_A silly little quick piece that popped into my head while waiting in a car park the other day... Whether it is even remotely a canon thread I have no idea, it just came to me and begged to be jotted down. So here it is. _

_Comments are like cookies to my Dragon soul, so are very welcome ;)_

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><p>Orochimaru's abandoned laboratory had been discovered by a scouting party, who had returned to the village to tell of its existence, and that of the specimens held within. Kakashi knew that whatever laid within the laboratory would be an atrocity, it always was. Filled with experiments gone wrong or simply left to die, the laboratories were not for the faint of heart. The task of investigating them was usually left to the strong stomached ANBU and Jonin, which was why Kakashi currently made his way through the stinking tunnel towards the newly found horror house.<p>

When they found any of Orochimaru's research labs, more often than not they were completely destroyed. There was rarely anything salvageable found within them, though some years ago a young boy had been saved from one. That time, Danzo had found one specimen alive and brought him back to Konoha to work as an operative under his command. That same person had, over time, managed to get behind Kakashi's strong defenses and into his heart, becoming someone very precious to him. And it was because of this that he sped through the tunnel not only to investigate, but in search of Tenzō. When Tenzō had eventually opened up and told him of what he had suffered at the hands of Orochimaru, it had broken Kakashi's heart. The man had hidden the unspeakable horrors that he had suffered as a child from all but a few. Kakashi had listened to his story in patient silence to allow the man to expunge himself of the nightmare. Tenzō held onto a strong belief that he should not be the only person to survive Orochimaru's horrific experiments, and whenever there was a new find, the man would run to the place with the hope of saving another like himself. Of course this could never be, most of the labs had been closed down for many years, but this didn't stop the man from hoping.

Kakashi hastened his steps, knowing that should the worst be true, which it undoubtedly would be, Tenzō would need him. The tunnel opened into a large cavernous dome, within which was a battery of test tanks and machines. Each tank held the remains of a small naked child. The tubes that had fed their tanks and maintained their sad existence had been long disconnected, and the poor children had either starved or suffocated within. One or two tanks remained hooked up to the machines, but these children had obviously died from terrible deformities long ago, their skeletal remains a chilling reminder of Orochimaru's evil. Taking a deep breath, Kakashi turned from the horror and searched for Tenzō. The further into the cave, the more preserved the children in the tanks became. Whether they had been held in a different liquid medium or not, he did not know, but their tanks were mostly still operating, despite the fact that the occupants were all dead.

He found Tenzō some moments later, huddled between two tanks, one of which had been opened recently. He held a young girl in his arms, so perfectly preserved that she looked like she was merely sleeping. Tenzō was stroking her damp long hair, while whispering words of comfort to her deaf ears. It saddened Kakashi to watch his lover break down over the death of a girl he had never known. Tenzō took all of their deaths to heart, feeling that he was somehow to blame for their shortened existence. It was in order to create one like Tenzō that Orochimaru had built such hideous places. In his quest to recreate the first Hokage's dead jutsu, Orochimaru had slaughtered hundreds, if not thousands of children, men and women. Tenzō often said that, had he not been too scared to show the man his then rudimentary mokuton while in one of the test tanks, then perhaps no one else would have had to die. It didn't matter what Kakashi or anyone else said, Tenzō still partially blamed himself for being a failure in Orochimaru's eyes.

"If only I had showed him." The dark eyed man would often say.

Kakashi quietly sank to the ground beside Tenzō, wrapping his arm around the man's shaking frame as he mourned for the loss of yet another young life. He looked down on the child, estimating her age to be around six or seven years old. Her pale skin showed she had most probably never seen daylight and Kakashi wondered if she had been born there in the darkness, before being coldly deposited into the tank.

Tenzō fell quiet, his fingers still gently stroking the long white hair, then he sighed and leaned into Kakashi. "I should bury her, bury them all." He said quietly.

Kakashi nodded, resting his chin on Tenzō's head. "I'll help you." He whispered.

He always helped, for the end result was always the same. Burying the dead had become a cathartic release for Tenzō and Kakashi was sure the man knew he would never find anyone alive. But it never stopped him hoping, or laying to rest those poor children he could never have saved.


End file.
